Practical N° 13 "Classroom Management"

Practice II – Camila Roldán & Federico Ramonda

Practical N°13 – “Classroom Management”

Chapter 3: Managing the classroom

C- Student talk and teacher talk

1- In a class of twenty students (working as a whole group) and one

teacher, how much speaking time will each student have in a fifty-

minute language practice class.

The students will have more or less two minutes and a half each

or even less if the teacher speaks too.

2- Make an A & D chart for teacher talking time and student talking time in

an English lesson.

TTT STT

Instructions Listen

Presentation Repetition

Explanation Listen, take down notes & ask questions

(Cross) Checking & Feedback Solving an activity (pairs/groups)

Share it with an audience

Role play of a dialogue

D- Using the L1

Rewrite the following statement so that it reflects your own opinion:

“Students and teachers should be discouraged from using students’ mother

tongue (L1) in the classroom.”

Students and teachers should use English as much as possible, speaking in

their mother tongue only when it is necessary.

Students should be encouraged above all to speak English because it is the

only opportunity they get to practice it. Therefore, teachers need to create

a fruitful environment where English is heard as much as possible. This

means giving instructions in English and a lot of input to students.

However, the presence of their L1 cannot be avoided. Teachers should take

it as a tool to explain difficult concepts or words, or even to ask children to


explain what they have to do in their mother tongue. This will show if the

students have understood.

E- Creating lesson stages

Number the following ways of regaining the initiative in a noisy class in order

of personal preference and give your opinion of their effectiveness:

The teacher blows a whistle. (4)

The teacher claps his/her hands. (1)

The teacher speaks quietly in the hope that students will quieten down to

listen. (3)

The teacher raises his/her hand, expecting students to raise their hands, too,

and quieten down. (2)

The teacher shouts at students to be quiet. (7)

The teacher stands on a table and shouts at students to be quiet. (6)

The teacher stands in front of the class with arms folded, fixing the students

with a baleful stare. The teacher waits. (5)

F- Different seating arrangements

What is the best seating arrangement for the following situations?

a- A team game with a class of forty. SEPARATE TABLES

b- A class discussion with fifteen students. HORSESHOE

c- Pairwork in a group of thirty students. SEPARATE TABLES

d- A reading task in a group of ten. ORDERLY ROWS

e- Students design an advertisement in groups. SEPARATE TABLES

f- Students all listen to an audio track. ORDERLY ROWS

g- The teacher explains a grammar point. ORDERLY ROWS

G- Different student groupings

1- Make an A&D chart for whole class, groupwork, pairwork and solowork.


Student

Grouping Characteristics Advantages Disadvantages

Whole

Class

Teacher works with

the class as a whole

group. Students

focus on the teacher

& task in hand.

Useful for presenting

information &

controlled practice.

Dynamic &

motivating. Builds

a great sense of

belonging.

Fewer individual

opportunities to

speak or reflect.

Less effective to

encourage

individual

contributions &

discussion.

Groupwork

&

Pairwork

Students work in

pairs or in small

groups. It fosters

cooperative activity.

Students

participate more;

they have more

chance to

experiment with

language and

work without

pressure. It gives

the teacher more

opportunities to

focus attention on

particular

students.

Students may

not like the

people they are

grouped or

paired with. One

student may

dominate while

others stay

silent.

Solowork Students work on

their own.

Students work at

their own speed

and have more

thinking time.

They are

concerned about

their own needs

and progress.

2- What is the best grouping for these activities, do you think? Put W, P, G

or S.

a- Students choose one of three alternatives when faced with an imaginary

moral dilemma. (P)


b- Students design a website for a school or special interest group. (G)

c- Students listen to an audio recording of a conversation. (S)

d- Students practice saying sentences with the present perfect ( I’ve lived

here for six years’, ‘He studied here for six months’) (W) (S)

e- Students prepare a talk/presentation on a subject of their choice. (P)

(S)

f- Students repeat words and phrases to make sure they can say them

correctly. (W)

g- Students work out the answers to a reading comprehension. (S)

h- Students write a dialogue between a traveler and an immigration official.

(P)

i- Students write a paragraph about themselves. (S)

j- The teacher explains the rule for the pronunciation of ‘s’ plurals (‘pins’,

‘cups’, ‘brushes’) (W)

Chapter 14: What if?

A- Students are all at different levels

1- Rewrite these sentences so that they reflect your own opinion:

a- Mixed-ability classes present the teacher with insuperable problems.

Mixed-ability classes represent a challenge to the teacher. This does

not mean they are an unavoidable obstacle. He/she needs to be aware

of the differences between students and find ways to exploit each

one’s potential.

b- The only thing you can do with a mixed-ability class is ignore the

problem.

Ignoring the problem is not the best option as it will remain present.

There are many plausible solutions such as using different materials or

different activities with the same material or even asking stronger

students to help weaker ones. It all depends on how resourceful and

creative the teacher is.

c- All classes are mixed-ability classes.

Most of the classes at school are mixed-ability classes, except perhaps

at schools where students are divided according to their level.

2- How would you approach these situations with a mixed-ability group?


a- You want to use the interview with Diana Hayden on page 141 with

your students. USE DIFFERENT MATERIALS/TECHNOLOGY

b- You want students to write a ghost story, having studied story telling,

and having been given some ‘ghost’ vocabulary and phrases. DO

DIFFERENT TASKS WITH THE SAME MATERIAL/TECHNOLOGY

c- You want students to study ways of agreeing and disagreeing – and

later use them, if possible, in some kind of discussion. DO

DIFFERENT TASKS WITH THE SAME MATERIAL/TECHNOLOGY

d- You have a poem which you want your students to look at. You can

refer to ‘Fire and Ice’ on page 108 if you want. USE DIFFERENT

MATERIALS/ TECHNOLOGY

e- Three of your students are making it clear that they’re finding your

classes too easy for them. USE THE STUDENTS

f- You want to hand back some written work and deal with the mistakes

that you found when correcting. USE THE STUDENTS

B- The class is very big

1- Complete the chart. In the first column write things you can do with

small classes (ten or under) but you can’t with big classes (forty or

plus). In the second column write things you can do with big classes

which you can’t do with small ones.

Small Classes Big classes

Individual repetition & controlled

practice

Use chorus repetition – reaction.

Whole class work (may be with

worksheets or on the board)

Use of worksheets for individual

work

Whole class work, individual work,

groupwork and pairwork.

Lots of groupwork and pairwork

The board is easily seen. The voice

is heard without inconvenience.

Maybe the teacher would need a

beamer or a bigger structure to

write on. As regards voice if the

group is too big, some teachers

use a microphone.

2- In big classes, what special considerations need to be taken into

account for the following?


a- The teacher’s voice: It needs to be loud and clear enough so that

everyone (even the students at the back) hear you.

b- The teacher’s place in the class: You should move around the

class if there is space but the most important aspect in big classes is

that they have to see you. You cannot be sitting the whole classroom

because students at the back will not see you and will maybe not

hear you.

c- The teacher’s board work/overheard projector use: You need

to write big enough so that everyone is able to see and your

handwriting should be clear.

d- Using the tape recorder: The sound needs to be as clear as

possible and the volume is important too. If you use a computer or

some other device to play the audio tracks, you could use some

loudspeakers.

C- Students keep using their own language

1- What action can teachers take if students use their own language in

class all the time? List as many things as you can think of.

2- In which of the following situations, if any, would you be happy (or at

least not unhappy) for students to use their own language?

a- Students are working in pairs to practice a dialogue. UNHAPPY

b- Students are debating the issue of whether birth control should be

imposed on the world to prevent overpopulation. HAPPY

c- Students are working in pairs to solve a reading puzzle. NOT

UNHAPPY

d- Students are checking that they understand the instructions for an

activity. HAPPY

e- Students are doing a group writing task. NOT UNHAPPY

f- Students are taking part in a business meeting simulation. HAPPY

D- Students don’t do homework

Write 1 (most favourite) to 9 (least favourite) in Column A (Me as a

teacher) and in Column B (Me as a student).

A B Homework Task

8 8 Students do a fill-in exercise, choosing between ‘going to’ and ‘will’.


1 4 Students interview residents/tourists in the street and bring the

results to the next lesson.

9 9 Students learn a list of words by heart to be tested by the teacher in

the next lesson.

2 1 Students prepare a presentation which they will give (individually) in

the next lesson.

5 5 Students prepare roles for the next week’s role-play.

6 6 Students read a text and answer multiple-choice questions.

7 7 Students write six sentences using the past continuous.

3 3 Students write a composition about the environment.

4 2 Students write a publicity leaflet based on something in the

coursebook.

E- Students are uncooperative

1- How many ways are there for students to be uncooperative in class? List

them in order where the first one is most difficult for the teacher to deal

with and the last is the least challenging for the teacher.

Students misbehave.

Students do not pay attention to you.

Students remain silent.

Students work with something that belongs to other subject.

Students do not speak in English.

2- What might teachers and students write in this contract form?

THE LANGUAGE LEARNING CONTRACT

TEACHER LEARNER

As your teacher I will respect your

learning pace and I will explain to

you as many times as you need.

As a learner I will commit to the

subject and make my best effort to

learn.

As your teacher I expect that you As a learner I expect to be taken


participate in class and use English

as much as you can.

into account and to have the

possibility to talk whenever I want

to express my opinion.

As your teacher I expect you to be

responsible. This means completing

all of the activities worked in class

and the ones which are for

homework.

As a learner I expect that my needs

are considered. Also, I would like to

know in advance when we are near

an exam, I do not like surprise

tests.

F- Students don’t want to talk

Copy and complete the chart with things you could do to make reluctant

speakers talk – and say what possible consequences are (both positive and

negative).

ACTION CONSEQUENCES

Join in yourself in order

to try to stimulate

discussion.

It might relax students; on the other hand

students may end up listening more than

talking.

Use pairwork They may relax but they may also use their L1

Speak nonsense Students may react either laughing and it

relaxes the environment or reply what you said

and start talking.

G- Students don’t understand the audio track

1- What problems do students have (in general) when listening to audio

tracks in class? How can you help them overcome these difficulties?

They do not understand every word – This is not necessary of

course but many students think that if they do not understand

some words, they will not understand the message. As teachers,

we need to emphasize the idea that the message is more than

just the amount of words as we also communicate through

paralinguistic features. Besides, it is a good piece of advice telling

them to focus in certain words such as nouns or verbs which are

the ones that carry meaning.


The speakers go too fast – This is the most likely thing to

happen as students are not accustomed to the language, its speed

and rhythm. We need to consider this carefully when using

authentic materials. A useful tool is to play the audio track

entirely and then, for the activities, pause it each time the

students need to complete something.

They do not understand the topic – They may understand

words but be unable to connect them and fully understand what

the text is about. In this case it is important that the teacher

explains a bit what the listening is going to be about, before

actually listening. A concept to have in mind here is the students’

background knowledge. It is useful to find out what the students

know about the topic and share it so that each of them has more

or less an idea of the words they are likely to hear. This helps

them to deduce meanings more easily. (Use predictions – Activate

schema)

Practical N° 13 "Classroom Management"

Education

Transcript of Practical N° 13 "Classroom Management"